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HONOLULU (AP) — Local officials in Hawaii next month plan to open an office that will speed up Maui County's notoriously slow processing of building permits to help the town of Lahaina to recover from last year's deadly wildfire. The new permitting center will help private developers building five separate projects with a combined total of more than 500 housing units. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is building 169 temporary housing units for displaced residents and is renting 1,300 units from landlords. The state of Hawaii is building about 450 temporary housing units, including 270 that will be ready by July or August. The state's temporary units are expected to be used for three to five years.
Persons: Keanu Lau Hee, Lau Hee, , Organizations: , Maui, University of Hawaii, Federal Emergency Management Agency Locations: HONOLULU, Hawaii, Lahaina, we’re, Maui County
It's a story increasingly familiar in the energy industry: Some utility companies don't properly assess the risks wildfires pose to their operations. The primary purpose is to prevent power lines from igniting a wildfire during periods of high fire danger. The lawsuit also alleges the company "inexcusably kept their power lines energized during the forecasted high-fire danger conditions." A PG&E utility worker locates a gas main line in the rubble of a home burned down by wildfire in Paradise, California, Nov. 13, 2018. Several of those agencies track statewide wildfire information, but most did not keep track of the names of utility companies associated with wildfire incidents.
Persons: Michelle Glogovac, Glogovac, Laurie Allen, Brent Jones, Allen, Jones, inexcusably, Michael Wara, Shelee Kimura, Yuki Iwamura, David Pomerantz, Pomerantz, Patti Poppe, It's, JOSH EDELSON, Warren Buffett's, Stanford's, CNBC's Brian Sullivan, David Paul Morris, Institute's Pomerantz, Tama Organizations: CNBC, Electric, Energy, Stanford University, Hawaiian Electric, AFP, Getty, Policy, Policy Institute, NV Energy, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Bloomberg, Getty Images Locations: Paradise , California, Lahaina , Hawaii, Hawaii, Maui, Maui County, Lahaina, California, Nevada, Warren, — Arizona, California , Colorado, Hawaii , Montana , Nevada , New Mexico , Oregon , Utah, Washington, Arizona , New Mexico, Utah
Several callers reached out to 911 throughout the morning asking for wellness checks for relatives or friends they couldn’t reach. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesAnother caller at about 9:45 a.m. called to report that his wife was missing. In one case, a 911 caller reported that a family missing their 15-year-old son had been “ignored.”The operator answers were the same each time. Emergency responders weren’t able to help find missing people because they were still trying to get everyone to safety, still working hotspots and responding to fires. In one case, a 911 caller reported seeing flames and hotspots on their property and trying to put them out with a garden hose that was rapidly losing pressure.
Persons: didn't, , , , “ I’m, We’re, “ She's, “ I'm, ___ Boone, Lauer, Whitehurst, Corey Williams, Audrey McAvoy Organizations: Maui Police Department, Cell, Authorities, Associated Press Locations: Maui, Lahaina, Maui County, Kula, Kihei, Upcountry, ___, Boise , Idaho, Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, Honolulu , Hawaii
More than 8,000 people, mostly Native Hawaiians, perished at Kalaupapa, including Damien, who eventually contracted leprosy, later called Hansen’s disease. Damien’s love for Kalaupapa’s people was unconditional, said Barbara Jean Wajda of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. “They keep me like this, make me strong.”She enjoys when people visit and when the church brings pilgrims, she said. The walls of the sisters' house, Kalaupapa’s largest dwelling, are filled with photos of the sisters who worked on the settlement after Marianne. “And we both feel connected to the patients, to the land, to the saints who were here, declared and undeclared,” Wajda said.
Persons: Saint Damien of Molokai, Kalaupapa’s, Damien’s, , Lance Toyofuku, ” Kalaupapa, Father Damien, Mother Marianne —, Alicia Damien Lau, Damien, Joseph De Veuster, Saint Marianne, Patrick Killilea, “ Fr, Paddy, “ It’s, Philomena, Barbara Jean Wajda, Francis, Lau, ” Marianne Cope, Marianne, Tonata Lolesio, ” Lolesio, , Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva’s, Silva, didn’t, that’s, Wajda, Francis Church, she’s, Watanuki, ” Bishop Silva, ” Keani Rawlins, Fernandez, Mother Marianne, Marianne . Lau, Alicia, ” Wajda, ” They’ve Organizations: Toyota, National Park Service, St, Neumann, Sacred Hearts School, Honolulu Bishop, , Associated Press, Maui County Council, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: KALAUPAPA, Hawaii, Kalaupapa, Molokai, Belgian, Hawaii’s, Honolulu, Belgium, Germany, Maui, Lahaina, American Samoa, Maui County
A public memorial honors the people who died in the Lahaina, Hawaii, wildfire this summer. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesAfter Kimberly Buen learned her elderly father was killed in the August fire that burned the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina to the ground, she needed to know who was ultimately responsible. Buen diligently listened to news conferences about how the deadly fire sparked. She read about the highly flammable grasses that blanketed nearby property. Buen, who lives in Palmdale, Calif., also retained an attorney to prepare a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric, Maui County, the state of Hawaii and Kamehameha Schools, a local landowner, who she said needed to be held accountable for their roles in the fire.
Persons: Mario Tama, Kimberly Buen, Buen Organizations: Hawaiian, Kamehameha Schools Locations: Lahaina, Hawaii, Palmdale, Calif, Maui County
A public memorial honors the people who died in the Lahaina, Hawaii, wildfire this summer. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesAfter Kimberly Buen learned her elderly father was killed in the August fire that burned the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina to the ground, she needed to know who was ultimately responsible. Buen diligently listened to news conferences about how the deadly fire sparked. She read about the highly flammable grasses that blanketed nearby property. Buen, who lives in Palmdale, Calif., also retained an attorney to prepare a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric, Maui County, the state of Hawaii and Kamehameha Schools, a local landowner, who she said needed to be held accountable for their roles in the fire.
Persons: Mario Tama, Kimberly Buen, Buen Organizations: Hawaiian, Kamehameha Schools Locations: Lahaina, Hawaii, Palmdale, Calif, Maui County
Water at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few coastal salt marshes on the island of Maui, has been bright pink since at least October 30, officials say, after its salt content surged amid an extreme drought. While Kealia literally means “salt encrustation,” the pond’s salinity has skyrocketed well beyond normal because of Maui’s extreme drought. The entire island is in severe or worse drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. The area where the Kealia Pond refuge is located is in what’s considered an extreme drought – the second-worst on the Drought Monitor’s scale. @Traviskeahi_photo/InstagramThe Waikapu Stream, which brings water from the West Maui Mountains down into the Kealia Pond, also flows through the area of extreme drought.
Persons: Kealia Organizations: CNN, Wildlife, University of Hawaii, Fish and Wildlife Service, US Drought Monitor Locations: Hawaii, Maui, Salt, what’s, West Maui, Maui County, Lahaina
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez grew up in Hawaii and has seen tourism increase over the years. Now a local council member, Rawlins-Fernandez says locals can feel overrun by tourists. Many economic, social, and financial issues arise with unrestricted tourism, and I don't know how Hawaii will continue to cope with these numbers. I grew up in Molokai, the only island of Hawaii where the economy is not reliant on tourism. My island in Molokai fared better because the model is to cater to local businesses and local patrons instead.
Persons: Keani Rawlins, Fernandez, Rawlins, , Uncle Walter Ritte, We've, aren't, I've Organizations: Service, Maui County Council, Kaho'olawe, Systems, Fernandez Tourism, Department of Transportation Locations: Hawaii, Maui County, Molokai, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaiian, Maui, Zion, Utah
Josh Green on Wednesday announced the creation of a $150 million fund to help those who lost family members or who were injured in Maui's wildfires. Beneficiaries will receive payments of more than $1 million as early as next year, the governor's office said in a news release. Those getting money from the fund will waive their right to file legal claims. The fund aims to enable swift and generous financial payments for losses without requiring people to go through time-consuming litigation, the release said. The fund is modeled on the September 11thVictim Compensation Fund, Green said in livestreamed address.
Persons: Josh Green, Green Organizations: , Wednesday, Electric, Kamehameha Schools, Federal Emergency Management Agency Locations: HONOLULU, — Hawaii, Lahaina, Maui County
HONOLULU (AP) — Maui police held a news conference on Monday to show 16 minutes of body camera footage taken the day a wildfire tore through Lahaina town in August, including video of officers rescuing 15 people from a coffee shop and taking a severely burned man to a hospital. Earlier this month, Maui County provided the AP with 911 call recordings in response to an open records request. Officers ushered out 15 people from the coffee shop as smoke swirled in the sky around them, loaded the group into police SUVs and took them to the Lahaina Civic Center. In another clip, an officer finds a badly burned man at a shopping center and put him in the back seat of his patrol car. The fast-moving wildfire on Aug. 8 killed at least 99 people and burned more than 2,000 structures.
Persons: John Pelletier Organizations: Lahaina Civic Center, Co Locations: HONOLULU, Lahaina, Maui County, Wailuku, Hawaii
After a major contracting scandal broke out in Hawaii last year, the mayor of Maui County appeared on television to express outrage and announce a sweeping audit of contracts awarded to a corrupt businessman. But no one told the county auditor, who said he only heard about the audit on the news. In the end, the audit was never completed, and the county’s flawed system for awarding contracts — a system marred by bribery and a lack of competition — remains largely the way it was. Now, as Maui recovers from the devastating wildfires that swept across parts of the island in August and killed at least 99 people, millions of dollars will be spent on rebuilding critical infrastructure using the same flawed contract-monitoring system. The bribery case involving the businessman, Milton Choy, prompted some county officials to begin phasing out the use of sole-source contracts — which are awarded without competitive bidding when officials determine that only one vendor is able to supply a particular good or service — but the practice is still in use in the county.
Persons: Milton Choy Locations: Hawaii, Maui County, Maui
HONOLULU (AP) — All of West Maui except for burned-out sections of historic Lahaina will reopen to tourism on Nov. 1 following the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than century, the mayor of Maui County said Monday. Mayor Richard Bissen said he made the move after talking about it with his Lahaina advisory team, the Red Cross and other partners. West Maui has about 11,000 hotel rooms, or about half of Maui's total. Josh Green last month declared West Maui would officially reopen to tourism on Oct. 8 to bring back badly needed jobs and help the economy recover. Residents who have been staying in West Maui hotels and other short-term accommodations after losing their homes in the fire won't lose their lodging, the mayor said.
Persons: Richard Bissen, Josh Green, Bissen, , ” Bissen, Organizations: Travelers, Hawaii Gov Locations: HONOLULU, West Maui, Lahaina, Maui County, Maui, Hawaii
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The death toll for the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century has increased by one, to 99, after Maui County police found additional remains. The remains were recovered on Oct. 12 in Lahaina, police spokesperson Alana Pico said in an email Friday. So far police have identified the remains of 97 people from the Aug. 8 fire that wiped out much of Lahaina, a historic town on Maui's west coast. Powerful winds related to a hurricane passing to Hawaii's south carried embers from house to house and hampered firefighting efforts. More than 2,000 buildings were destroyed, and some 8,000 people were forced to move to hotels and other temporary shelter.
Persons: Alana Pico Organizations: Associated Press Locations: LAHAINA, Hawaii, Maui County, Lahaina, Maui's, Lahaina's, Hawaii's
___4:41 p.m.A man called 911 saying he was seeking refuge in a big rig truck that he came across near the Pioneer Mill Smokestack just off Lahainaluna Road. The dispatcher asked if he could drive the rig to get away from the fire. “Do you think they’re there still,” the dispatcher asked. ___4:49 p.m.A man called to say he and his wife were trapped because she couldn’t get down the four flights of stairs in their apartment building. ___4:56 p.m.A dispatcher briefly chastised one man when he called to report his elderly parents were stuck in their burning home.
Persons: “ Ma’am, “ I’m, , Jesus Christ, , Shrieks, couldn’t, they’re, “ We’ve, honking, I’m, we’ve, , We’re, Organizations: Associated Press, AP, Baker, Vehicles, Lahaina Civic Center Locations: Maui, Lahaina, Aki, sobs, Lahainaluna,
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary electric utility company, has acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui that morning. One caller said cars were being routed into a gated parking lot and were forced to turn around. A third caller told dispatchers they needed to open a road on the south side of town, warning that the blocked exit would result in people dying. One dispatcher told a caller stuck in traffic that emergency workers were busy “because Lahaina has a couple of house fires going on right now.”“If you’re safe, you need to stay there,” she said. Associated Press writers Lisa Baumann in Seattle; Chris Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed.
Persons: , , “ It’s, Alana Pico, Hale, cinders, we’ve, , We’re, Mahina Martin, ” Martin, ” ____ Lauer, Johnson, Lisa Baumann, Chris Keller, Claire Rush Organizations: Associated Press, Electric, Hawaiian Electric, Flames, Maui Police Department, AP, Lahaina Civic Locations: LAHAINA, Hawaii, Maui, Lahaina, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boone, Boise , Idaho, Albuquerque , New Mexico, Portland , Oregon
CNN —The Maui County Council has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution urging Hawaii’s governor to delay the October 8 reopening of West Maui to tourism. Deadly wildfires that broke out in West Maui in early August severely damaged the historic town of Lahaina, killing 97 people and destroying hundreds of residents’ homes. Josh Green previously announced state officials were looking to reopen West Maui beginning Sunday. Josh Green to delay plans to reopen a portion of West Maui to tourism. Green said in a statement Saturday many have asked about the right time to welcome visitors to West Maui.
Persons: Keani Rawlins, Fernandez, , ” Rawlins, Josh Green, ” Green, Green, Kiakona, ” Kiakona, Tamara Paltin, Audrey McAvoy, Paltin, Richard Bissen Organizations: CNN, , Hawaii Gov, Residents, Hawaii Locations: Maui County, West Maui, Lahaina, Hawaii, Maui
Five hotels in West Maui were accepting reservations again, according to their websites and the Maui Hotel and Lodging Association. Many local residents have objected to resuming tourism in West Maui, which includes Lahaina town and a stretch of coastline to the north. Thousands of tourists staying in beachfront hotels north of the burn zone left Maui in the days after the fire. Some 11,000 hotel rooms in West Maui have since either sat empty or housed displaced Lahaina residents under a program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross. Four of the five reopening hotels were in the northernmost section of West Maui, including the Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua.
Persons: Josh Green, Green, Laura Paulson, Richard Bissen, ” Bissen, Bissen, , ” Paulson Organizations: Maui, Lodging Association, Hawaii, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Wellness, Resilience, Ritz, Carlton Locations: HONOLULU, Maui, Lahaina, West Maui, Maui County, Paia, Maui's, Hana, Kapalua
Parts of West Maui to reopen to tourists on Sunday
  + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +2 min
CNN —Parts of West Maui are still on track to begin a phased reopening to tourists starting Sunday, October 8 – but the action comes with some controversy. ET Friday, the phased reopening was still on schedule according to the Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau and the office of Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen. Here’s where things stand for the tourism-reliant island heading into the weekend:What’s opening on MauiAreas of West Maui – including Nāpili, Kāʻanapali, Honokōwai and Kapalua – are part of the reopening, according the Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau. “We advise travelers to check with the individual accommodations in West Maui for their reopening plans,” the Visitors Bureau said. Also, other Hawaiian islands – Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Lānaʻi, and Hawai‘i Island – have been welcoming visitors all along.
Persons: Josh Green, Richard Bissen, Carlton Maui, Kahana Villa Organizations: CNN, Hawaii Gov, Hawai‘i Visitors, Convention Bureau, Visitors, Convention, Ritz, Carlton, Kahana, Hyatt, Visitors Bureau, Bureau Locations: West Maui, Lahaina, Maui County, Maui, Kapalua, Mahinahina, Royal Lahaina, , “ County
There are businesses still functional ... That’s a public health issue,” Koger continued, adding that there are also significant “cultural concerns” associated with the debris removal. The debris removal not only is occurring on an island in the Pacific Ocean, but Maui has no landfills certified to take hazardous waste. Cultural monitors, who are Native Hawaiians from Maui, are also accompanying the EPA and eventually the Corps during the cleanup. The Corps said plans are being worked out to move debris to a temporary site then eventually to permanent disposal sites in Maui County. Even so, Maui County Council Vice-Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura often hears from many anxious residents looking to return and build a new home.
Persons: , Cory Koger, ” Koger, Steve Calanog, King Kamehameha, ” Calanog, Micah Kamohoali’i, Wayne Tanaka, Yuki Lei Sugimura, , Michael Casey Organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, U.S . Army Corps of Engineers, West Coast ., National Park Service, Hawaii Department of Health, Corps, Information Center, Sierra Club of Hawaii, , AP Locations: Maui, Kula, Lahaina, Paradise, California, Oregon , Colorado, New Mexico, they’re, That’s, Oregon, West Coast, Hawaii, Lahaina Hongwanji, United States, Maui County, Central Maui
Here are the key takeaways of an Associated Press investigation into the probe:WHAT DO THEY THINK HAPPENED? Investigators led by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Maui County have declined to comment on specifics of the probe. They included a heavily charred, hollowed 4-foot-tall stump of a utility pole, two heavily burned trees and the remains of an old car tire. Photos taken after the blaze show charred foliage in the utility’s right-of-way still more than 10 feet high. The utility instead sought to shift the blame to Maui County fire officials for what it believes was their premature, false claim that they had extinguished the first fire.
Persons: , Balagso, couldn’t, Munro Tulloch Organizations: Associated Press, Co, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, Press, AP, Electric Locations: Lahaina, Maui, Maui County
The PGA Tour is returning to Maui to start the new season with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, five months after deadly wildfires destroyed nearby Lahaina and claimed at least 97 lives. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had said last month he hoped the tournament could be a source of inspiration for Maui and Lahaina, about 10 miles away from where the PGA Tour has started its year since 1999. The tour sent a memo to players Thursday that it will be back at Kapalua for the Jan. 4-7 opener. The Bay Course at Kapalua opened on Wednesday, and the Plantation Course where the tournament is held is to open on Oct. 18. The Sentry Tournament of Champions, for years only for PGA Tour winners, now is for the top 50 from the previous year’s FedEx Cup along with any tour winner from 2023.
Persons: Jay Monahan, Josh Green, , Tyler Dennis, ” Dennis, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, ___ Organizations: PGA, Hawaii Gov, Green, Maui, Maui Food Bank, UH, PGA Tour, FedEx Locations: Maui, Lahaina, Kapalua, Hawaii, West Maui, . Wisconsin, Maui United, Maui County
David Minkin, an attorney for Maui County, told Reuters that only a small portion, if any, of its land was involved in the blaze. Wildfire victims have struggled over the years to hold landowners liable, even for fires ignited on their property. Rick Linkert, a California attorney who specializes in defending wildfire cases, said it may not be easy for Wells' legal team to show negligence. They would have to demonstrate there was an accepted standard for managing grasslands and that the landowners ignored it, he said. Maui County has filed its own lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric, which it blames for the fire.
Persons: Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Harold Wells, Rebecca Rans, Wells, Bishop, David Minkin, Rans, Jim Bickerton, Bickerton, Rick Linkert, Linkert, Pauahi Paki, Kamehameha, Tom Hals, Amy Stevens, Noeleen Walder, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Kamehameha Schools, Reuters, Honolulu Star, U.S . Forest Service, Hawaiian Electric, Thomson Locations: Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, U.S, Rights WILMINGTON , Delaware, Harold Wells of Arizona, Maui County, Wailuku, Guinea, California, Hawaiian, Wilmington , Delaware
The authorities announced on Friday that they currently believe 97 people died in the Maui wildfire instead of the 115 fatalities they had been reporting for weeks, a surprising development after initial fears that many more lives had been lost in the disaster. It is the first time that the Maui death toll has dropped. In some instances, Dr. Stuelpnagel explained, forensic examiners have determined that they had multiple sets of remains for the same person. He also said that 16 of the remains that investigators had received were nonhuman. “It’s good news to have a lower number, that’s for darn sure,” Dr. Stuelpnagel said on Friday.
Persons: Jeremy Stuelpnagel, Stuelpnagel Locations: Maui, Maui County, Lahaina
The original suit claimed Hawaiian Electric was to blame for the fire, because it did not deenergize power lines that were knocked down by high winds. Shares of Hawaiian Electric have plunged 67% since the fires erupted August 8. Hawaiian Telecom is privately owned. Maui County filed a separate lawsuit late last month against Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries, alleging that the utility company’s negligence caused the devastating wildfires. Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said in a statement following Maui’s lawsuit that the company believes the complaint is factually and legally irresponsible.”
Persons: LippSmith, Graham LippSmith, , , inexcusably, Shelee Kimura Organizations: CNN, Hawaiian, Lahaina, Charter Communications, Hawaiian Telecom, Hawaii Telecom, Electric, Hawaiian Electric, National Weather Service, Watch Locations: Maui, Lahaina, Kula, Olinda, Charter, West Maui, Maui County
Lawsuits are piling up in court over liability for the inferno, and businesses across the island are fretting about the loss of tourism. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier has repeatedly pleaded for patience as authorities try to verify who is missing, who has been accounted for and who has died. Among the lawsuits is one by Maui County accusing the utility of negligently failing to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. On Monday the father of a 57-year-old woman who died while trying to escape the fire filed suit against defendants including Maui County, the state and Hawaiian Electric. The state said it was reviewing it, and Hawaiian Electric declined to comment.
Persons: Richard Bissen, Joe Biden, John Pelletier, Josh Green, , ” ___, Sen, Brian Schatz, , Schatz, Green, Oprah Winfrey, Dwayne Johnson, ___, Jason Momoa, Steven Tyler, ” Tyler, ___ Johnson Organizations: Maui County Police, Police, FBI, Gov, Twitter, Hawaii Electric Company, Hawaii Electric, Electric, Representatives, Hawaiian Electric, Lawyers, Hawaii U.S, Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, . Environmental Protection Agency, Officials Locations: HONOLULU, Maui, Maui County, Lahaina, Hawaii, MAUI, Philadelphia, Seattle
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